Microsoft opens up

Mark yesterday in your books, because it could be a significant day in the history of Rich Internet Applications. If you haven't heard, Microsoft has made a shift in how it sees competition. Dan Farber here on ZDNet sums it up best I think with his title, A kinder, gentler but not humbled Microsoft emerges. While there will undoubtedly be cynics, and rightly so, with new leadership in charge, this could signal a tangible shift in the philosophy of the software giant.

Richard McManus alluded to this in his post yesterday, but Microsoft is getting the web. They are starting to understand both how dangerous the web is to their core business model and how much potential it brings. I think this could herald the beginning of a more cross-platform friendly Microsoft. They have tried, and failed, in the past to bring their products to other platforms, and in the end, it just didn't make economic sense for them to support the products. If they really do "get it" then it is easy to see that a cross-platform solution is in their best interests.

From a purely economic standpoint, I don't know how important cross-platform is (more on this in a later post), but maybe Microsoft is finally thinking beyond the short term economics and into the long term sustainability of their business. There will be a lot of money in cross-platform RIAs, and if Microsoft really is going to play fair and not be evil, they stand to make a lot of money.